Maximal effective baseline for polarimetric interferometric SAR forest height estimation

The concepts of critical baseline and maximal effective baseline have been defined for interferometric SAR (InSAR) DEM application based on the spatial decorrelation (which is a function of baseline). This paper puts forward these two concepts to polarimetric interferometric SAR (Pol-InSAR) forest height estimation application. The application makes use of volume decorrelation, which is also a function of baseline. So both the spatial decorrelation and volume decorrelation are considered to determine Pol-InSAR critical and maximal effective baseline. Firstly various decorrelation effects are discussed. Then the calculation formula of Pol-InSAR maximal effective baseline are presented and compared to that of InSAR. For validation, RVoG-based and PolSARpro-based simulation data and DLR ESAR data are used. The concept of Pol-InSAR maximal effective baseline is of practical significance in selection of Pol-InSAR image pairs as well as in the design of further Pol-InSAR systems.